


About Asgore

by Bloodsbane



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dialogue Heavy, Established Relationship, Gen, Post-Pacifist Route, the end is cute i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 14:24:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5167121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloodsbane/pseuds/Bloodsbane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand him. It felt like my entire family was gone from me in the blink of an eye.”</p><p>---</p><p>After a heated argument concerning a small mistake made by Asgore, Toriel finally tells Sans exactly why reconciliation with the former king of monsters has been so difficult these past six months.</p>
            </blockquote>





	About Asgore

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone. Here's my second Undertale fic~ I really wanted to think a bit more deeply about Toriel, how she treats Asgore in the game, and what she must have been feeling exactly to be so harsh towards him. This fic is basically my idea of why Toriel left Asgore and why she still hasn't forgiven him for what he's done, even after everyone is happy post-pacifist run. Fitting, since my last fic was so Sans-centric! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy~

Sans winced as he watched Toriel stomp into the house, forcefully tossing her purse onto the couch with an audible huff of distaste. As the skeleton gently closed the door behind them, Toriel began pacing in front of their small television, arms firmly crossed while glaring at the floor.

With a glance at the clock, Sans saw they’d gotten back a lot earlier than expected - it was only six. The plan had been to go out to eat once they’d left Asgore’s. After what had happened, though, Toriel confessed she was not in the mood to go out anymore. Which was fine. Sans didn’t mind it at all. Just…

“You okay, T?” the skeleton asked, kicking off his shoes and swiftly stepping back into his slippers. He’d gotten dressed up for the occasion (if you called a clean shirt, sneakers, and jeans dressing up); it was a relief to immediately shed off some of the unfamiliar clothing. Sans hung up the clean, fitting jacket and replaced it with his normal, heavier one, which he’d tossed on the arm of the couch on their way out.

Toriel wasn’t facing him, though Sans didn’t have to see her face to recognize the anger there. “I am fine. Forgive me for canceling our plans, Sans.”

“It’s okay,” Sans said earnestly. His smile felt false, though. The skeleton hesitated, then sat down on the couch and said, “Tori… I, uh…”

Toriel turned a little to look at him - her mouth was downturned, the lines around her eyes betraying irritation. Still, she softened as she looked at Sans, if only a little. “What is it, Sans?”

“Do you… Um, just, d’you think maybe you wanna… talk about this? I mean…” Sans looked away, scratching his neck. This was such a touchy subject… In the six months they’d all been living above ground, and the few weeks he and Tori had been living together, he’d only ever attempted to breach the subject once or twice. Every time, Toriel would divert the discussion to something else before any real progress was made.

Mostly, Sans figured it wasn’t his business. What happened between Toriel and Asgore was basically history, and he didn’t have much of a say in how she acted. Still, though, even after almost year, things were tense between them. And as much as Sans was reluctant to admit, the animosity really wasn’t Asgore’s fault at all. It could get… well, tiresome at times. There were days the entire group had to work around a plan just to make sure Toriel and Asgore didn’t have to be in the same room together for more than half an hour. By no fault of Asgore or his behavior, either - it was almost always Toriel who’d make a snappish comment or passive-aggressive remark that left the room uncomfortable.

Before Sans could muster up the courage to continue, Toriel seemed to catch onto what Sans was trying to say. Her face immediately scrunched up with irritation. “There is not anything to talk about. You know what he did! I have every right to be upset. I can't believe that man! Frisk could’ve been hurt!” Toriel put her hands on her hips and huffed - Sans could see heat of her breath distort the air. She added, sourly, “I _still_ can't believe you convinced me to allow them to spend the night despite what happened.”

Sans held his hands up defensively, giving Toriel a look. It was unlike her to use such an accusatory tone. Well, with anyone who wasn’t Asgore, anyway. “It was just an accident, Toriel. He didn’t know Frisk was allergic to ginger.”

Toriel looked away stubbornly, and Sans felt the unfamiliar prickle of irritation sparking behind one eye.

“So you're siding with him then?”

Sans couldn’t hide his blatant disbelief. He gazed wide-eyed at his friend, who was glaring back now, face rosy with anger. How did she possibly glean that from what he’d said. “What? Tori, listen, it’s not about sides-”

“You’re saying I was wrong for being upset at him!”

“Well, y-yeah!”

“So you’re siding with Dreemurr! You think I’m being irrational, don’t you? Well, I am not! Don’t you remember how terrible it was when Frisk ate ginger for the first time, when we didn’t know? If it wasn’t for my healing magic, they would’ve had to go to a human hospital! I can’t believe you’re acting like it wasn’t a big deal.”

“It wasn’t _not_ a big deal, Tori,” Sans insisted, shaking a bit with frustration. Deep down, all he wanted to do was disengage the argument - he hated confrontation, especially when Toriel was on the other side of the conflict. But this entire thing was getting ridiculous, honestly. This wasn’t the first time Toriel had nitpicked and scolded Asgore for such a small thing. How could she not see that she was overreacting? “It’s just that it was an accident! You can’t really blame him. Asgore didn’t know Frisk was allergic to ginger.”

Toriel bore her teeth, angrier than Sans had seen her in months. “How could he not? We’ve known about it for weeks!”

Sans shrugged, his smile strained. “Well… We haven’t exactly talked to Asgore in weeks, have we? I don’t think anyone bothered to mention it to him, least of all us.”

Toriel finally paused, taken aback. She thought for a moment, then looked to the floor. Her aggressive stance slowly began to melt. “You are… right,” Toriel said quietly. All the fight was oozing from her voice, flat as a deflated balloon. “He wouldn't have known, because I had not informed him. He was ignorant, not careless. It…” Toriel waved a hand as she moved to sit on the couch, closing her eyes and sighing. “It was not his fault.”

Sans gave Toriel a sympathetic look. “It’s fine, Tori.” He offered her a wink. “And hey, the kid was alright, weren’t they? Just a sore throat and some itching, no big. It was only one sip of tea.”

Toriel nodded absentmindedly. She was looking up at the ceiling, expression pained. “You’re right. I… I did overreact, didn’t I? I was being irrational.”

“W-well…”

“I feel like this isn’t the first time either, is it? No…” Toriel shook her head, looking upset again, though Sans didn’t suspect it was at Asgore anymore. “I’ve been acting so childish! Haven’t I? Oh, Sans!” Toriel leaned back and put her hands on her face in dismay. “I’m too old to be behaving like this…”

Sans looked at her quietly, unsure of what to say. He couldn’t reassure her that she was wrong, because she honestly wasn’t. Her behavior towards Asgore had been… well, difficult to reason. If Sans had learned anything about the ex-king, it was that Asgore hardly ever did anything to garner scorn. Not purposefully, anyway. He was a giant goober, a total sweetheart… He was kind to all of Sans’ friends and, most importantly, very careful and loving towards Frisk. At first Sans supposed he could understand why Toriel didn’t want to be around Asgore so much. As time went on, though, her aggression towards the other monster just kept getting harder and harder to understand.

Sans wasn’t used to not understanding. He wanted so desperately to. “Tori… I want to, um.” Sans looked away, rubbing his face. “You still don’t have to talk about if you don’t want to. I’m not gonna nag you or anything. But… I mean, would it help? I know you’re always, uh, being nice and saying I can tell you things. So...  Can I return the favor? If only just this once?”

He could feel Toriel looking at him. He hoped she wasn’t angry - he hated getting into other people's’ business if he could help it. There was also the fact that Sans was simply shit at giving advice. Could he really help her at all, even if she did tell him everything?

A hand touched his back. Sans peeked at her and saw exhaustion. Toriel sighed and nodded. “I think talking might help. If nothing else, you deserve to understand how I feel. We have been living together for some time now… and you have been brave enough to confide in me, yet I refused to show the same trust. I am sorry.”

“It’s-”

Toriel tapped his teeth with a claw, and the skeleton silenced himself. Dejected as Toriel appeared, Sans couldn't help but perk up, eager to hear more; if this was finally a chance to help make things better, Sans was ready to listen. The skeleton waited patiently and sat up straighter, letting his friend know she had his undivided attention.

There were a few more moments of silence. Toriel eventually lifted a hand to her face, rubbing her eyes against the soft pads of her paw. “I don't know… I don't know. So much has happened and I thought, perhaps, the feelings would have finally gone away. And yet here I am, still bitter despite everything.”

“Bitter with Asgore?”

“I am not sure anymore - I haven't been for a long time. Perhaps I am more bitter with myself.”

“What do you mean?”

Toriel sat up, gesturing to herself as she spoke. “I have been trying my best to let things get better between Asgore and myself, even though I know it does not seem so. But every time he speaks, anytime he does anything… I just get so…” Toriel clenches her fists, face cloudy with frustration. “I just get angry! So angry and… and upset. And all I want to do is have him leave me alone.”

“And why is that?” Sans asked carefully, genuinely curious. Despite everything, there were still many things Sans simply didn't understand, mysteries he has yet to uncover. The reason behind Toriel’s behavior towards Asgore was definitely one of those things.

Toriel paused to think, looking away, her expression once again distant. It was a look that didn't suit her. Sans understood Toriel to be someone who thrived by living in the present - she kicked away all doubts and woes and focused on making every new day something worth experiencing. But Sans was not stupid. Though he knew so little about Toriel by the time they finally met face to face, her history was common knowledge. Sans understood some things were difficult - perhaps impossible - to move past or forget.

When Toriel replied, Sans could hear it on her tone - he sat back and got ready to listen.

“Asgore has - ah, _had_ \- always been a good king. Monsterkind was lucky to have him, lucky that he lived and led for so long. Despite all we had gone through, he never gave up the hope that there might someday be peace between man and monster. Humans can be cruel, but to believe there was no chance for their redemption… That would have been worse than our imprisonment. He helped us remember to stay hopeful and to remain kind in the face of animosity. Without him, I always feared what the Underground might have become.

“When Chara fell… It was like a reward for our patience. A gift of fate, letting us know the end was finally coming. Like the angel of legend, we believed Chara would help us realize true peace and freedom. And beyond that, they became our child - a sibling to our son, a member of our family.”

Toriel paused. She was still looking away from Sans, so he could not see her expression, but something in her tone began to concern him. He leaned forward a bit to hear her, as the monster’s voice was beginning to falter in her story.

“And then… and then, w-when Chara died… we were all devastated. Everyone. Not just Asgore and me, or poor Asriel… the entire Underground mourned. It was awful. So sudden and so simple, and we could do nothing but watch them die…

“But I thought… I thought we could survive it. Living for so long, you lose many friends. And while we all loved Chara, they were still human. Chara was never truly mine, at least not by blood, and to some extent… well, they were always a strange child. Quiet. Distant. Asriel was the only one they ever really talked to.”

Another pause.

“I-I thought…” Sans could hear her choking up now. “I thought we could survive their death - we had survived everything else, had we not…? But then… t-then, Asriel… My poor s-s-son, Asriel…”

Her tears were fat and wet, and left dark trailed in the witness of her fur. Toriel wiped them away and sniffled. Sans was already up, grabbing the tissue box from off the coffee table. He held it out to Toriel.

“Thank you, Sans.”

“No problem, T. You… you don't have to keep going if you don't want to. I’d hate to be too _nosy_.”

Perhaps this wasn't the time for jokes, but Toriel chuckled anyway, and Sans felt a little better about it. He couldn't help himself - jokes were a go-to when he got stressed.

“I am fine, Sans. Thank you. I just need a moment,” she answered, offering a wet smile as she dabbed her eyes and rosy nose.

Sans left the box on Toriel’s lap and sat down again, a little bit closer this time. He laced his phalanges together, leaned back, and waited.

Eventually, Toriel spoke again. “They were both gone. Just like that. Both of our children had died. It was… I could never have imagined it happening in such a manner, not in all my years of living. Just like that, all our hopes and dreams… gone.

“And then…” Here, Toriel’s voice became terse and dark, darker than Sans had ever heard her speak. “And then Asgore… made that _ridiculous_ promise; a decree of war against the humans.” Toriel chuckled bitterly and without humor. Sans thought it was a dreadful sound. “Even after everything… even in the face of such loss… Asgore gave them hope. He gave them all a new dream. It didn't matter how bloody or cruel. It worked. But I… I…”

Sadness, again. Toriel closed her eyes as fresh tears began to flow. “I couldn't stand it. I h-hated him. We had just lost our c-children - _our_ children.” Toriel crumpled up the tissue in her hand, wringing it as she spoke. “Was there no time to grieve for them? Was there no time to spread Asriel’s dust? What's there no time for the two of us to… to…”

Toriel lifted a shaking fist and growled, “I hated him!” as she slammed the arm of the couch, startling Sans. Tiny orange flames flickered at her fingertips. “It was like losing him too! Losing my husband to this madness, his grief… And I couldn't do anything to stop it. I could do nothing to save Chara, or stop Asriel, and now my husband had transformed before my eyes. Into something defeated and cruel and…

“I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand _him_. It felt like my entire family was gone from me in the blink of an eye.”

Toriel anger seemed to leave her all at once. The monster leaned forward and hid her face in her palms. Sans waited, worried, and his concern only spiked when he saw her shoulders begin to shake violently. “Tori?”

“I was s-so alone!” she murmured as she wept. “The Ruins… they were as far as I could run, to get away from everything. I c-c-couldn't stand it. I closed the door behind me and cast a spell to lock it so no one could follow… For so many years, I was alone.

“A-and… And when each human child fell, I couldn't stop them, either. They wouldn't listen, or they w-wouldn't care… or they feared me. Every time, they left, and I know they perished. Every time they came and went, I felt my isolation, like a growing sickness in my chest. My magic… was all that kept me going, some days. It felt like m-my body was rotting, or… becoming hollow.”

Toriel lifted her face from her hands, though she still wept. Her sobs were quiet and soft, but they hurt Sans all the same. Feeling helpless, he could only put a hand in her back and let her continue through her tears.

“I h-h-hated it. I was alone for s-so long. I couldn't stop anyone from dying - not my children, my husband... the humans who fell down. No one wanted to s-stay with me. It felt like… like I was just another catacomb for them to pass through. I felt so hollow; their footsteps out of the Ruins would bounce and echo inside of me for years and years. No one wanted to stay. They abandoned me, just like everyone else…”

Toriel suddenly smiled, laughing, though it seemed very bitter. “That's not fair to say, t-though, is it? I was the one who abandoned everyone first. I fled from Asgore instead of trying to talk to him and grieve with him. I abandoned my people. I locked myself away. Exile was my choice.”

For a few moments, they sat together in silence, Sans rubbing Toriel’s back as the woman tried to wipe her face clean of tears. Sans waited patiently. He thought they were, perhaps, straying a little off the Asgore topic… but he didn't truly mind. He was getting a every good picture of things now. And it sounds like this was all something Toriel needed to get off her chest.

Sometimes, Sans could forget how all this affected everyone else. He liked to think he got the shittiest deal out of all this business, but perhaps that was an ignorant, selfish wish. There would always be hurt across any of the timelines, and as Sans now fully understood, pain existed long before this little pocket of reruns began.

He was glad he could at least offer counsel. Give his friends a shoulder to cry on, or someone who could listen. If Sans accomplished nothing else, he hoped he could alleviate at least a little bit of the pain his friends felt.

Eventually Toriel sat up. She surprised Sans by putting a heavy hand in his shoulder, pulling him a little closer to her. The skeleton felt his cheeks bones turn blue. He looked up at her and offered a lopsided grin. “You feelin’ any better Tori?”

“A little…” She seemed like she still had something to say. Sans let his face be open, inviting her to continue.

Her smile now was genuine, and sweet. It made Sans blush again and glance away. “You know Sans… you really helped me so much. I don't think there are enough words to describe how much you mean to me. Without you, I…”

The atmosphere changed - just a little, but Sans felt it. He glanced at Toriel in alarm.  “Would have…?”

She seemed shy now, or embarrassed, like she was admitting to sneaking cookies from the tin. “I'm sorry. I'm just trying to be honest now. Hearing you knock that first day… Telling jokes though the door and talking - it made me happier than I had been in what felt like an eternity. You made me feel alive again, like I wasn't alone anymore. For so long it felt as if… well, as if my existence no longer mattered. Like living was a burden. If I hadn't met you… well, I'm not sure how much longer I would have bothered baking snail pies for myself. Or waking up to an empty house. Death would never come with age, so… Well.”

Sans felt somewhat speechless, and a little lightheaded. He has never considered… All the times he had knocked on the door, or met Toriel for the first time, over and over, it always felt like he was discovering _her_. Like she was the new thing to brighten up his life, and help things feel like they were worth suffering. Not often did Sans truly consider it might've been the other way around. The very idea of her doing something like that to herself… It weighed Sans down with a heavy, empty dread.

“Anyway,” Toriel said quietly, clearly a bit embarrassed at her confession, “in the end, I changed my mind. Because of you, Sans. Talking to you made me feel like there was something for me in the future. I didn't feel so alone anymore. I thought, perhaps, a future for monsters was still worth dreaming of. You gave me… hope, again. Which is why I asked you if you would make that promise with me.”

Sans nodded numbly, blushing again with the thought. The promise that started it all - the splintering timelines, the resets. Yet, no matter how bad things got, Sans could never bring himself to break her promise the next time around. Unless, well…

“So when… when Frisk fell down, and when they eventually wanted to leave… I tried to stop them, of course, but deep down I knew this time it was different.” She gave him another smile. “I thought, ‘this time Sans can take care of them’. I thought they could make it. Perhaps even… even defeat Asgore and really make it though, get home and save humanity from war. Things could be… different.

“At first, I was content to wait. I thought once they were gone, you would simply come back and tell me how things went, and I could know for sure if it was all really over.

“Then I realized it wouldn't really be right, to let the human kill Asgore. No matter how pathetic or how foolish, he deserved mercy too... and Frisk did not deserve to have to make that choice. I realized it was never the responsibility of the humans to stop Asgore. I should have come back and stopped his plan a long time ago.”

Toriel sighed, leaning back and resting a hand on her chest, as if exhausted. “I can't help but wonder how much suffering might have been avoided, had I only been brave enough to face Asgore again. But I was so afraid of finding… I am not sure. Perhaps I feared he would be totally different - cold and cruel.” Toriel chuckled sadly, shaking her head. “Yet, somehow, seeing he had hardly changed only made things worse!”  

“Is that why you've had such a hard time dealing with him?” Sans asked quietly, reaching out a hand to hold hers. Her big palms were warm and held his completely.

Toriel nodded. “At least if he was cruel, or stupid, or if he tried to act as if what he did was the right choice… Hating him would be easy. But I do not hate him. I cannot. He is almost no different from the man I once loved. And yet… time has changed both of us. The death of Chara and Asriel changed us. Perhaps it was even inevitable, that we would part ways in the end.”

“Inevitable?”

Toriel nodded, smiling bittersweetly. “As I said, Asgore has always been a good king - a great king, really. He always thought first and foremost of his people. And while I enjoyed being queen and helping rule over our beloved subjects… I don't know. I suppose it felt like Asgore was never truly mine.” Toriel sighed deeply, rubbing her sore eyes. “I mean, the first thing he did when Asriel died was try to console his people. I was… hurt. I was his partner, his queen, but my feelings did not come first. Not even his own feelings came first. He had to comfort his people and give them hope for a future.

“Asgore… In many ways, he is a coward. In many ways, he is a fool. But Asgore was never a selfish or cruel person. In all truth, he is probably the most selfless monster I have ever known.” Toriel shed a few more tiny tears, smiling sadly. “Stupid man. What a burden he put upon himself. How heavy it must have been to carry the crown alone. I'm not much better than he is; at least Asgore had the determination to stick to his word and stand as a symbol of their hope. I crumbled and fled. I am no less a coward than he is.”

To all this, Sans didn't know what to say. He simply held Toriel’s hand and waited.

“Thank you for listening, Sans. I think you're right - it's been long enough. I... should try to make amends with Asgore.”

Sans offered her a sincere grin. “Sounds like a good plan to me, Tori. And, uh, hey, y’know you can always talk to me if you need to.”

“I am very thankful for that,” Toriel said, smiling back. She leaned over and kissed his crown, making him turn blue again. “I'm lucky to have met you.”

* * *

About a week later, as Sans is following Toriel and Frisk out of the restaurant, a hand falls on his shoulder. “Sans? Can we speak for a moment?”

The skeleton tilts his head up to look at Asgore. The ex-king’s smile, even upside down, is very kind. Sans shrugs beneath the boss monster’s huge hand. “Sure. What’s up, Fluffybuns?”

Asgore’s nose wrinkles at the nickname just a tad - Sans suspects it's because most people don't use it nowadays. Not to Asgore’s face, anyway; Gerson and Undyne are the only two with the gall. The monster’s expression quickly relaxes, though. “I just wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?” Sans turns around fully, tilting his head at Asgore. “What for?”

“For whatever you said to Toriel,” Asgore explains. He glances back behind Sans, no doubt watching Toriel as she and the others head down the street, back towards the school. At the first intersection, the group would wait for Sans and Asgore to catch up, Sans suspected. “I am not sure what you did, but I just wanted to let you know I appreciate it more than I can say.”

Sans nodded, feeling a bit surprised but hiding it easily. Had she already confronted Asgore since their talk? “Does this mean you two are finally goating to patch things up?”

Asgore looked at Sans blankly for a few seconds, then caught on and chuckled weakly. “Heheh… Well, I think so. The other day, when you two came back to pick up Frisk, she actually apologized for snapping at me. Of course, I should have known-”

“No, no, you wouldn’t have,” Sans insisted, holding up a hand to stop the taller monster before him. The skeleton turned and began walking out of the restaurant, gesturing for Asgore to follow. “It really wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes, well… Toriel apologized for her reaction, and she also apologized for… being so cold. I believe her attitude towards me was no less than I deserved, but... “ Asgore paused, and Sans looked over his shoulder to see the monster’s expression. Asgore’s eyes glistened in the setting sun’s soft light. “It is nice… to have her again. To be able to talk to her, and laugh with her. We can finally be friends. I have waited so long just to see her smile again. Her friendship is more than I deserve… Thank you.”

Sans nearly stopped, but seeing Toriel wave back at them from down the sidewalk, he decided to keep to pace. Sans closed his eyes, and his smile felt sweet. “No problem, Fluffybuns.”

They caught up with the others, and Sans took Frisk’s hand as Toriel hung back to talk to Asgore, excited to detail a snail the group had seen on their walk. Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys walked just ahead of them, all three playfully arguing about something, though Sans wasn’t sure what and didn’t care enough to eavesdrop.

“You enjoy dinner, kid?” Frisk nodded their head at Sans, patting their stomach and then putting a hand over their mouth. “Maybe a little too much to eat, huh? Well, sleep will do ya good. You’ll be back to being a bottomless pit by morning. I swear, I’ve never seen any monster eat half as much as a human.”

Frisk giggled behind their palm, gripping Sans’ hand a little tighter and swinging their arms. Suddenly, Toriel returned on Frisk’s left, bending down a little to take her child’s other hand. “Hello you two. Ah, Frisk, do you want to swing?”

Frisk nodded their head and skipped a bit, but Sans gently released his grip, holding up both hands in the face of their confused looks. “Swinging? Heh, sorry kid, but you know I’m not so great for that. I’ll be selling you too _short_.”

That got a little snort out of Toriel, though Frisk seemed disappointed. Sans pretended to think, then mumbled, “Maybe someone else could swing your other arm instead of me? You’d get more mad ups that way.”

He sent a significant glance Toriel’s way. It took a moment, but then the other monster glanced over her shoulder. There was a faint hesitation in her features - Sans felt himself tense a bit as she stopped walking and straightened up. Then she gave a very small smile and gently said, “Asgore… would you like to help me swing Frisk a bit?”

Frisk looked surprised, then excited, turning around to look at Asgore. The ex-king was clearly taken aback, thumbs hovering over his phone, which he’d been inspecting quietly as they all walked. “You want me to help?”

“Yeah,” Sans said, shrugging his shoulder and moving to stand behind Asgore. “Kid deserves a good swing, don’t they? Woe as I am to admit, someone of my stature simply isn’t _up_ for the challenge.”

Another giggle from Toriel as Frisk impatiently held their hand out to Asgore, who was still looking a bit off-balance. Then the monster put his phone away in the pocket of his pants and held out a large hand, carefully taking Frisk’s. He walked to stand beside the child, and Sans watched as he and Toriel gently held Frisk and helped them skip and swing, lifting them up a few inches with every couple of steps. Frisk laughed freely, and Sans saw Toriel and Asgore share a smile.

Sans watched, relaxed, as dusk turned to another star-filled night.

 


End file.
